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Shallow Nation

June 25th, 2009 at 11:01 am

National Geographic: World’s Toughest Fixes 50-Ton Rudder (Video, Photos)

World's Toughest Fixes 50 Ton Rudder

Here are National Geographic: World’s Toughest Fixes 50-Ton Rudder video and photos. The program airs on June 25, 2009 at 9 p.m. PT/ET on National Geographic channel.

Episode 4 of World’s Toughest Fixes is 50-Ton Rudder . WTF (as the program is also known, charmingly) chronicles the adventures of program host, professional rigger Sean Riley as he takes on challenging projects worldwide to assist mechanics and engineers.

This time Riley joins a team of industrial divers on the Caribbean Island of Curaçao to salvage and repair the 50-ton rudder of a ship carrying $3 million worth of iron ore. With lots of money and big business on the line, the pressure is on and the crew gets right to work.

Sean Riley’s assessment of the efforts of divers to attach lift bags underwater to raise the rudder to the surface” “Fifty tons of metal rising to the surface by a bunch of balloons! Incredible!”

Thereafter, as the National Geographic: World’s Toughest Fixes 50-Ton Rudder video reveals, our host gets a quick hazing (which sees him assigned to getting the lunch orders) and then embarks on a crash course in underwater welding so he will be able to accompany the crew as they dive under the ship to disassemble the rudder. They will then be working for hours at a time weighted down with 30 pounds of gear, including helmets and air hoses.

It’s all in a day’s work of moving a 100,000-pound rudder submersed under 60 feet of water.

Sean Riley

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: Host Sean Riley and the World’s Toughest Fixes team have set up a cable-camera shot and it’s working just as planned. (photo credit © Elizabeth Kanter/National Geographic Television)

Host Sean Riley (photo above) continues to reveal a down to earth and witty approach to solving complex technological problems making WTF a popular on National Geographic channel.

Check out some National Geographic World’s Toughest Fixes 50-Ton Rudder video and photos below.

For more background information on the program, see Sean Riley’s blog: The Right Tool For The Job

In addition to hosting World’s Toughest Fixes host, Sean Riley, is the founder and principal rigging designer of San Francisco based company Gravity Design Inc., delivering innovative rigging and force management solutions for large-scale industry clients internationally; clients who run the gamut from circus acts to industrial installations such as wind turbines, underwater welding or commercial solar energy fields.

Top photo:CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: Caracas Bay, on the southeastern side of Curacao, harbors a fully loaded bulk cargo vessel during her stay for underwater rudder and steering gear repair work. The vessel was hauling iron ore from Brazil to China when its rudder was damaged. Tug boats towed it from off the coast of Brazil all the way to Curacao, part of the Netherlands Antilles off the coast of Venezuela. (photo credit © Elizabeth Kanter/National Geographic Television)

World's Toughest Fixes 50 Ton Rudder

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES: Just shy of midnight, after a long day filled with unexpected challenges, the damaged 50+ ton rudder of a bulk cargo carrier is lifted out of the black water and onto a waiting barge. (photo credit © Elizabeth Kanter/National Geographic Television)

Video “Giant Rudder Fix” – Sean’s skills are put to the test when he must do some underwater welding. At night. With explosives. Video Link

Photos and video courtesy of National Geographic Channel